The government is making a big push for electric vehicles. The growth forecast is high and the policy is clear. However, the uptake will depend on the ability of the state governments to create charging infrastructure. The policy field was cleared last year. The ministry of power clarified in Apr 2018 that charging stations do […]

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced that it will invest $50 million in Indian renewable energy independent power producer Avaada Energy Private Limited. Avaada aims to use the capital to expand its solar energy generation capacity in India. The ADB and Avaada entered into an agreement which was signed by the chairman of the […]

Recognized as one the leading mining nations in the world Polish government has prepared ‘West Bengal Project’ that was discussed recently during Bengal Global Business Summit. Poland was partner country of the summit for a third time in a row. Poland looks for collaboration with both PSUs and the biggest private players. During a recent […]

India’s SpiceJet Ltd could benefit from cash-strapped Jet Airways being forced to ground planes, and the low-cost carrier is in talks with lessors to lease some of those aircraft, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Shares of SpiceJet rose as much as 7.2 percent on Wednesday in their biggest percentage gain […]

Indian companies are welcome to participate in Indonesia’s infrastructure projects, particularly in the Aceh province, as the island nation makes development a priority, a senior minister has said. Addressing a gathering of chief executives of the Indian companies at the 2nd India-Indonesia Infrastructure Forum (IIIF) in Jakarta, country’s Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar […]

Kerala to float tenders for 1 GW of solar projects under Soura program

Joining the other states in achieving 100 GW of solar capacity together by 2022, the state of Kerala is now planning to develop 1,000 MW of solar projects under the SOURA program.

The SOURA scheme is to be jointly implemented by Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), the state nodal agency for renewable projects.

In the first phase, projects aggregating 200 MW, both rooftop and ground-mounted, will be issued. It has been proposed to float the tenders under two models, namely Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) tender and tariff-based competitive bidding.

Kerala board has prepared the draft of bid documents and wants to take opinions of prospective stakeholders before finalizing them. The date of the meeting has been fixed on January 14, 2019.

Recently, the KSEB announced a tender for 200 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to be developed in Kerala on Independent Power Producer (IPP) mode. The bid-submission deadline is February 1, 2019. A single bidder must bid for a minimum of 1 MW and can bid for a maximum of 200 MW. The KSEB has fixed the upper ceiling tariff at ₹3.50 (~0.05)/kWh.

In November 2018, Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) had approved a petition filed by KSEB seeking its approval for 200 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects to be developed in Kerala under IPP mode.

In October 2018, Kerala announced its Electric Vehicle Policy. Under this, the road tax on the electric vehicles may be fully exempted for the initial three years. Charging stations for the EVs would be set up by Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) and might establish battery swapping stations jointly with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). Battery swapping infrastructure would be as per the standards for battery swapping to be formulated under the policy.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, the state of Kerala has an installed solar capacity of 76.4 MW and a project pipeline of 57.65 MW to date.

The government is making a big push for electric vehicles. The growth forecast is high and the policy is clear. However, the uptake will depend on the ability of the state governments to create charging infrastructure. The policy field was cleared last year. The ministry of power clarified in Apr 2018 that charging stations do […]